“Merciless Indian Savages”: Cherokee Podcaster on Racist Slur in the Declaration of Independence

Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July Fourth, we speak to award-winning Cherokee author and journalist Rebecca Nagle about what’s missing from the conventional story of the American Revolution. “The last grievance in the Declaration of Independence is about 'merciless Indian savages,'” says Rebecca Nagle. “According to our founders, in their own words, the thing that they were most angry about was Native people.” She also argues that the “biggest myth” is that the founders built a democracy, “because they also built an empire,” and that the two can’t coexist. Nagle partnered with leading Indigenous scholars on a new documentary podcast called First America. The series challenges the conventional U.S. origin story by examining the experiences of Indigenous peoples, and traces how laws and legal doctrines first used to dispossess Indigenous nations continue to impact questions of executive power, immigration, xenophobia, citizenship, territorial expansion and U.S. foreign policy today. Nagle links the dark history of the United States’ founding to ongoing oppression in the country. “I would be reporting on America’s past, and then the same thing would happen in our present,” she says. “Rounding people up, putting people in detention, even shooting anybody who gets in the way, these are things that our government has done before — not once, not twice, but many, many times.”

“Merciless Indian Savages”: Cherokee Podcaster on Racist Slur in the Declaration of Independence

Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July Fourth, we speak to award-winning Cherokee author and journalist Rebecca Nagle about what’s missing from the conventional story of the American Revolution. “The last grievance in the Declaration of Independence is about 'merciless Indian savages,'” says Rebecca Nagle. “According to our founders, in their own words, the thing that they were most angry about was Native people.” She also argues that the “biggest myth” is that the founders built a democracy, “because they also built an empire,” and that the two can’t coexist. Nagle partnered with leading Indigenous scholars on a new documentary podcast called First America. The series challenges the conventional U.S. origin story by examining the experiences of Indigenous peoples, and traces how laws and legal doctrines first used to dispossess Indigenous nations continue to impact questions of executive power, immigration, xenophobia, citizenship, territorial expansion and U.S. foreign policy today. Nagle links the dark history of the United States’ founding to ongoing oppression in the country. “I would be reporting on America’s past, and then the same thing would happen in our present,” she says. “Rounding people up, putting people in detention, even shooting anybody who gets in the way, these are things that our government has done before — not once, not twice, but many, many times.”

From the Trail of Tears to a temper tantrum, Native author explores long fight for justice on tribal lands

With her debut book, award-winning journalist Rebecca Nagle is taking a look at one of the most consequential U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Indian Country.

From the Trail of Tears to a temper tantrum, Native author explores long fight for justice on tribal lands

With her debut book, award-winning journalist Rebecca Nagle is taking a look at one of the most consequential U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Indian Country.

Player | KPFA

From the Trail of Tears to a temper tantrum, Native author explores long fight for justice on tribal lands

With her debut book, award-winning journalist Rebecca Nagle is taking a look at one of the most consequential U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Indian Country.

This Land | Crooked Media

This Land is Crooked Media's 8-episode podcast series hosted by Rebecca Nagle about how a cut and dry homicide opened up an investigation into the treaty rights of five Native American tribes. Find out how this unique case could result in the largest restoration of tribal land in US history.